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Banda Bahadur
बंदा बहादुर
The Sikh general who avenged the martyrs of the Khalsa
Years
1670 – 1716
Known as
Banda Singh Bahadur — the general of the Khalsa
Birthplace
Rajouri, Jammu (now in Pakistan-administered Kashmir)
Field
Kings & Strategists
“The martyrs of the Khalsa shall be avenged — and the land of the five rivers shall be free.”
— Banda Bahadur
The Story
Born Lachhman Dev in 1670, he was a Bairagi ascetic when he met Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, shortly before the Guru's death. The Guru gave him the name Banda, 'the servant', and charged him with carrying on the struggle of the Khalsa against the Mughal tyranny that had martyred his sons and his followers.
Banda raised the banner of revolt in the Punjab, and within a year he had defeated the Mughal forces, taken Sirhind — the seat of the governors who had martyred the Guru's sons — and established the first independent Sikh state in the land of the five rivers. He struck coins in the name of the Guru, abolished the oppressive levies, and gave the peasants justice.
The Mughal emperor, alarmed, sent a great army against him. After a heroic siege of the fort of Gurdas Nangal, Banda was captured with his followers and taken to Delhi, where he was tortured and executed in 1716 — but his martyrdom kindled the Khalsa's resolve, and his state became the seed of the Sikh sovereignty that would one day rule the Punjab.
Core Ideas
The Khalsa's General
Charged by Guru Gobind Singh to continue the struggle.
The Fall of Sirhind
He avenged the martyrs of the Khalsa.
The First Sikh State
He established independent rule in the Punjab.
Justice for the Peasants
He abolished oppressive levies and gave the people justice.
The Martyr of Delhi
He died for the Khalsa in 1716.
Why it matters today
Banda Bahadur is honoured as one of the greatest warriors of the Sikh tradition — the general who established the first Sikh state and avenged the martyrs of the Khalsa. His martyrdom is remembered with reverence, and his name stands beside the Gurus themselves in the history of the Sikh people.